The pain would become so intense that he would have to stop driving, pull over to the side of the road, and lay on the hood of the car to make the spasms stop. He says it feels like "vice grips on the back of my hips" and that the pain "shoots down his leg" and that the bottoms of his feet feel like they have "nails" sticking in them or they become numb.
He's been to several physicians and has tried a variety of prescription medications, both pain pills and muscle relaxers, including Xanax, Carasoprodyl ("soapers"), Percodan, Vicadan, and Valium. The medications didn't help his pain very much but they "bombed" him out. He stated that he didn't like to take "hard drugs."
He remembered that when his father had been dying of cancer in the late 1970s, the doctor in Houston had recommended taking him off standard medications and allowing him to smoke marijuana "a couple of joints a day" for the rest of his life. After a year of standard medical practice and a lot of prescription medications, Back Trouble decided to also try marijuana.
After only a few puffs, two or three, he found he was good for the whole day or evening. He told his physicians and most of them said to stop using marijuana. One doctor "kind of looked sideways, but didn't give any lectures," (a neurologist).
"All through the 90s, I wouldn't have been able to work at all (without marijuana). I just use it one or two times a day, maybe three or four times a week." He says he was able to work when he was using marijuana but not when he was using prescription drugs.
Back Trouble states that some of the chiropractors he's been to have agreed that marijuana was good for his back. Also, he stated that his severe migraines and sinus trouble were relieved by marijuana use.
August 2000--